SOME  COMMON  ERRORS 
OF  SPEECH 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  THE  AVOIDING  OF 
CERTAIN  CLASSES  OF  ERRORS,  TO- 
GETHER WITH   EXAMPLES  OF 
BAD  AND  OF  GOOD  USAGE 


BY 
ALFRED  G.  COMPTON 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

XLbc  Untickerbocker  press 

1898 


Copyright,  1898 

BY 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 


Ube  "Knickerbocker  iprss?,  t\cve  ]>J^fs 


I 
0 


PREFACE. 


THE  following  pages  were  first  contributed 
to  The  College  Mercury  (a  paper  published 
by  the  students  of  the  College  of  the  City  of 
New  York),  in  the  hope  that  they  might  help  to 
improve  the  English  to  which  I  was  obliged  to 
listen  daily  in  the  class-room.  I  had  thought, 
at  first,  to  pick  out  a  baker's  dozen  of  the  most 
noteworthy  of  the  infelicities  of  speech  and 
to  parade  these  before  my  boys  for  deliberate 
inspection,  somewhat  as  the  Police  Depart- 
ment shows  up  pickpockets.  The  limit  of  my 
baker's  dozen  was,  however,  soon  passed;  so 
too  was  the  other  limit  I  had  set  for  myself, 
and  I  now  offer  my  not  very  goodly  company 
of  offenders  for  the  inspection  of  a  larger  as- 
semblage than  that  for  which  I  had  at  first  in- 
tended them.     If  the  spectacle  of  their  ugliness 


in 


157 


iv  Preface 

shall  have  the  effect  of  helping  a  few  of  my 
readers  to  turn  away  from  them,  and  to  seek, 
even  at  the  expense  of  much  labor  and  trouble, 
more  pleasing  forms  of  expression,  I  shall  be 
content. 

Both  the  bad  forms  and  the  corresponding 
good  ones  have  been  illustrated,  when  this  was 
practicable,  by  examples.  For  obvious  rea- 
sons, I  have  generally,  in  the  former  instances, 
withheld  the  names  of  the  authors,  but  I  am 
able,  if  required,  to  present  evidence  that  the 
passages  in  question  are  actually  "in  print," 
and  have  been  offered  in  good  faith.  They 
are  taken,  in  part  from  standard  literature,  and 
in  part  from  the  newspapers  and  magazines  of 
the  day.  That  the  daily  papers  should  yield 
the  most  abundant  examples  of  faulty  diction 
is  not  surprising,  when  we  consider  the  pres- 
sure under  which  the  work  of  their  writers  and 
editors  is  done;  what  has  surprised  me  more 
is  the  generally  good  character  of  our  "  news- 
paper English."     The  forms  of  expression  to 


Preface  v 

which  this  term  of  disparagement  may  be  fairly 
applied  are  few,  and  there  is  an  evident  en- 
deavor, on  the  part  of  most  papers,  to  exclude 
them, — an  endeavor  which  fails  at  times  by 
reason  of  the  desire  for  strong  effect,,  and 
oftener,  perhaps,  through  the  impossibility  of 
eternal  vigilance. 

I  have  in  my  collection  made  no  attempt  at 
system  beyond  that  of  classifying  the  rather 
miscellaneous  faults  under  a  few  obvious  heads, 
and  I  have  undertaken,  as  a  rule,  to  present 
only  errors  concerning  which  there  is  not  much 
controversy.  Writing  simply  with  the  view  of 
submitting  a  few  suggestions  that  may  prove 
of  service  to  writers  who  would  like  to  do  bet- 
ter than  they  are  now  doing,  I  have  not 
attempted  to  enter  into  the  discussions  of  phi- 
lologists, for  which,  indeed,  I  cannot  pretend  to 
be  qualified.  I  understand  also  that  our  Eng- 
lish language  is  a  live  and  growing  speech,  and 
that  it  ought  not  to  be  and  in  fact  cannot  be 
restrained  by  the  bands  of  a  past  age  or  of 


VI 


Preface 


an  old-time  literature,  but  must  from  time  to 
time  make  for  itself  new  expressions  for  new 
thoughts;  I  feel,  however,  that  the  conserva- 
tive no  less  than  the  reformer  has  his  mission 
in  language,  as  in  politics,  and  that  a  new  word 
or  phrase,  like  a  rebel  people,  should  be  fought 
down  until  it  has  fought  its  way  up  and  has 
proved  its  right  to  exist. 

A.  G.  C 


CONTENTS 


HAFTER 

PAGE 

I.     Improprieties 

I 

II.     Metaphors    . 

13 

Worn  out  metaphors 

13 

Bad  metaphors 

14 

II.     Grammar 

22 

Accusative  for  nominative 

23 

Pronoun  without  antecedent 

25 

Pronoun  with  wrong  antecede 

nt 

26 

Disagreement  in  number 

28 

Participle :   wrong  reference 

29 

Passive  voice 

31 

Passive,  verbs  of  giving 

33 

Pluperfect  for  past  future 

37 

Preterit  for  perfect 

33 

Preterit  for  pluperfect    . 

39 

Divided  infinitive  . 

40 

Participial  noun 

45 

Participle  as  adjective     . 

47 

Prepositions  with  verbs  . 

.     43 

Prepositions  with  adjectives 

52 

Auxiliaries  :    can    . 

.     53 

Auxiliary  without  a  verb 

•     54 

Shall  and  will 

55 

Shall  and  will :  wrong  use 

.     60 

"       "       "      correct  use 

.     62 

Possessive       .... 

.     65 

Index  expurgatorius 

.     69 

vii 

"  In  the  first  place,  let  me  observe  that  our  lan- 
guage is  the  most  precious  possession  we  have.  It 
is  a  commonplace  to  say  that  the  greatest  gift  God 
has  bestowed  on  man  is  his  power  of  communicat- 
ing his  thoughts  to  his  fellows  by  speech,  and  not 
only  of  communicating  thought,  but  the  nicest 
shades  of  thought.  .  .  .  Now,  to  have  and 
keep  a  language  of  this  kind,  somebody  must  take 
care  of  it,  and  must  see  that  its  peculiar  excellen- 
ces are  preserved,  that  its  words  keep  their  mean- 
ing, that  additions  to  it  are  not  wantonly  made, 
that  all  changes  in  it  are  justified  and  justifiable, 
and  well  considered.  I  speak  with  deliberation 
when  I  say  that  there  is  no  civilized  country  in 
which,  outside  the  colleges,  so  little  of  this  is  done 
as  in  ours."  E.  L.  Godkin,  in  The  Educational 
Review,  January,  1897. 


ix 


SOME  COMMON  ERRORS 
OF  SPEECH. 


T 


CHAPTER   I. 

IMPROPRIETIES. 

HE  use  of  a  word  in  a  sense  not  sanctioned 
by  good  usage  is  called  an  impropriety. 
The  name  is  perhaps  less  used  now  than  form- 
erly, but  the  thing  named  is  not  less  common. 
The  following  are  a  few  faults  of  this  kind  that 
one  frequently  meets  with.  Some  of  them 
have  been  repeatedly  noticed  in  books,  but 
still  survive,  and  perhaps  are  immortal. 

I.  Liable  is  improperly  used  as  equivalent 
to   apt    or   likely.      "  I    am    liable    to    forget 

unless  I  write  it  down."     "  He  is 
Liable. 

liable    to    come    in    before     three 

o'clock."     "  They  are  not  liable  to  make  such 

a   mistake."      In  "all   these  cases  the  proper 

i 


2  Errors  of  Speech 

word  is  apt  or  likely, — apt  when  the  thing 
spoken  of  is  habitual,  likely  when  a  single 
occasion  is  referred  to.  Thus,  in  the  first 
example,  the  meaning  may  be  "  I  usually 
forget  unless  I  write  the  thing  down,"  and 
then  apt  is  the  proper  word ;  or  it  may  only 
be  meant  that  on  this  occasion  "  I  shall  prob- 
ably forget,"  and  then  likely  is  the  word.  The 
same  distinction  would  hold  in  the  case  of  the 
second  example:  "  He  is  apt  to  come  in," 
means  he  will  probably  come  in  because  it  is 
his  habit  to  do  so.  "He  is  likely  to  come 
in,"  means  it  is  probable  for  reasons  existing 
in  this  particular  instance;  and  in  the  third 
example  exactly  the  same  distinction  would 
hold.  Liable  is  wrong  in  all  these  cases:  it 
means  exposed  to,  subject  to,  or  in  danger  of. 
It  is  not  said  of  desirable  things,  but  only  of 
misfortunes.  One  is  liable  to  defeat,  sickness, 
infection,  accident,  loss  of  position,  disappoint- 
ment, failure,  but  not  to  promotion,  success, 
recovery,  praise,  or  other  good  things. 


Improprieties  3 

This  word,  moreover,  is  preferably  used 
with  a  noun  rather  than  with  a  verb.  "  Liable 
to  error"  is  better  than  ''liable  to  err," 
though  Milton  does  use  the  latter. 

Liable  is  correctly  used  in  the  first  of  the 
following  examples,  and  incorrectly  in  the 
others. 

"  It  inevitably  arouses  in  us  the  notion  of  an 
illusiveness  like  that  to  which  our  visual  percep- 
tions are  so  liable."  Herbert  Spencer,  First 
Principles,  Ch.  v. 

"  He  is  forgetful  about  details,  and  is  liable  to 
change  his  mind  on  important  public  questions 
every  few  days." 

"  A  trip  on  the  overland  through  New  Mexico 
in  those  days — it  was  1877 — was  apt  to  prove  a  lit- 
tle trying  to  a  man  of  quiet  tastes,  for  the  Apaches 
always  were  liable  to  be  lying  in  wait  for  the  stage, 
and  road  agents  were  unusually  industrious  that 
year." 

"  I  am  pretty  well  acquainted  with  my  Assembly 
district,  which  I  have  canvassed  three  times  for 
Congress.  It  is  liable  to  give  Mr.  Low  from  2,000 
to  2,500  votes,  two-thirds  of  which  will  be  Demo- 
cratic." 

"  It  is  proper  for  the  chiefs  of  the  Citizens' 
Union  to  take  precautions  to  keep  its  functions 


4  Errors  of  Speech 

uncontaminated,  and  to  be  prepared  for  that  en- 
thusiastic surging  of  '  labor  men '  which  its  unpre- 
tentious and  popular  character  is  liable  to  bring 
upon  it." 

2.  Somewhat   analogous   to   the   misuse   of 
liable  is  that  of  due.     This  word  is  correctly- 
used  as  an  adjective,  in  the  sense  of 
Due. 

4  owing,"  as:  "  The  success  of  the 

enterprise  was  entirely  due  to  the  persevering 
efforts  of  this  one  man."  Due  to  is  here  the 
exact  equivalent  of  owing  to.  It  is  no  better 
than  the  latter,  and  Webster  says  it  is  not 
much  used.  It  is,  however,  strictly  correct ; 
but  when  used,  as  it  is  occasionally,  as  an  ad- 
verb, it  is  without  good  authority.  "  He  was 
unable  to  arrive  in  time,  due  to  the  delaying 
of  his  train  by  a  displaced  rail,"  is  inexcusable. 
"  Owing  to  a  displaced  rail  he  was  unable 
.  .  .,"  would  be  correct.  Owing  to  is  used 
both  as  adverb  and  as  adjective,  due  to  only 
as  adjective. 

"  The  club  is  in  a  bad  way  financially,  due  to 
differences  about  Cleveland." 


Improprieties  5 

The  word  must  be  understood  here  as  adver- 
bial, and  the  proper  statement  would  be, 
"  Owing  to  differences  about  Cleveland,  the 
club  is  in  a  bad  way." 

"  The  resistance  of  the  column  of  powder  .  .  . 
was  often  enormously  great,  due  to  the  imperfect 
contact  between  adjacent  particles." 

"  It  is  perhaps  due  to  this  promise  that  Sir 
Alfred  heartily  concurs  in  the  desire." 

"  While  these  tests  have  never  been  completed, 
due  to  more  urgent  work." 

"...  the  air  at  the  centre  became  denser, 
due  to  reduction  of  velocity." 

The  Weather  Bureau  is  right  in  the  follow- 
ing passage : 

"  In  the  central  valleys  and  Southern  States  the 
week  has  not  been  favorable,  owing  to  general  ab- 
sence of  rain  and  prevalence  of  high  temperature." 

As  to  the  following  one  feels  less  sure;  it 
would   be    better   if    the    adjective   due  were 

nearer  to  its  noun,  modifications : 

"  There  are  abundant  instances  to  prove  that 
considerable  modifications  may  suddenly  develop 
themselves,  due  to  external  conditions  or  to  ob- 
scure internal  causes."     Mivart,  Natural  Selection. 


6  Errors  of  Speech 

3.  The  use  of  apt  as  the  equivalent  of  likely 

is  an  impropriety.     To  be  apt  to  do  a  thing 

means  to  do  it  frequently,   though 
Apt. 

not    quite  habitually:   there   is  still 

some  uncertainty.     Frequency,  however,  is  a 

necessary  element  in  the  meaning  of  the  word. 

The  following  passage  is  wrong : 

"  But  there  is  apt  to  be  a  spirited  contest  at  the 
Democratic  caucus  in  the  afternoon." 

"  There  will  probably  be  a  spirited  contest  " 

is  the  proper  expression. 

4.     Though  these  words  have  the  same  origin 

they  have  acquired  different  meanings,  and  the 

Definitely,  distinction  between  them  is  so  use- 
Definitively.  ful  that  it  ought  tQ  be  preserved. 

Definitely  means  specified  as  to  contents,  pre- 
cisely limited,  and  is  opposed  to  vague  and 
indefinite.  Definitive  means  settled,  freed 
from  doubt,  and  is  opposed  to  tentative, 
temporary,  or  provisional.  A  definite  agree- 
ment is  made  if  the  terms  of  the  agreement 
are  precise;  a  definitive  agreement  has  been 


Improprieties  7 

made  if  the  transaction  has  been  actually 
agreed  on,  even  though  the  terms  are  not  ex- 
actly settled.  The  parties  to  a  dispute  as  to  a 
boundary  may  have  definitively  agreed  to 
effect  a  settlement  in  a  certain  way,  or  within 
a  certain  time,  though  the  boundary  may  not 
have  been  definitely  marked  out.  On  the 
other  hand,  a  definite  boundary  may  have 
been  decided  on,  though  the  conditions  on 
which  both  parties  will  accept  it  may  not 
have  been  definitively  agreed  on.  The  use  of 
definite  and  definitely  instead  of  definitive  and 
definitively  is  very  common  :  the  opposite 
error  is  much  less  likely  to  occur. 

The  following  are  examples  of  the  wrong 
use  of  the  words : 

"  Natal  was  practically  a  No  Man's  Land  until 
1843,  when  England  definitely  took  charge  of  the 
country." 

"  Boulton  then  definitely  decided  not  to  continue 
his    own    experiments." 

" .  .  .  and  there  will  be  no  improvement  until 
the  plan  is  definitely  adopted  by  some  organization 
and  earnest  work  done." 


8  Errors  of  Speech 

The  words  are  rightly  used  in  the  following: 

"  She  [Greece]  has  extricated  it  [the  Eastern 
question]  from  the  meshes  of  diplomacy  and  has 
placed  it  on  the  order  of  the  day  for  a  definitive 
solution."  W.  E.  Gladstone,  Letter  to  the  Duke 
of  Westminster. 

"  The  course  of  Great  Britain  in  the  matter  has 
not  yet  been  decided  upon,  but  Ambassador  Hay 
will  probably  receive  a  definite  statement  on  the 
subject  this  week." 

5.  To  claim  is  wrongly  used  in  place  of  to 
maintain,  to  state  an  opinion.     The  word  means 

to  demand  as  a  right.     When  the 

To  claim.  .... 

expression  of  an  opinion  is  intended, 

the  proper  verb  is  to  maintain,  or  to  declare, 
or,  if  the  opinion  is  held  in  the  face  of  opposi- 
tion, to  contend.  I  have  heard  a  student  of 
astronomy  say,  "  Some  astronomers  claim  that 
Mars  is  inhabited."  Doubtless  there  are 
enterprising  commercial  peoples  who  would 
"  claim  "  Mars  as  within  their  sphere  of  in- 
fluence, if  they  knew  it  to  be  inhabited,  but 
they  would  be  very  foolish  to  make  any  claim 


Improprieties  9 

as  to  its  being  inhabited :  they  can  only  think 
or  believe  or  maintain  that  it  is  so.  Daniel 
Webster  long  ago  called  attention  to  this  mis- 
use of  the  word  claim  as  being,  in  his  day, 
prevalent  in  Connecticut : 

"  This  word  claim  means  everything  in  the  law- 
language  of  Connecticut.  Here  a  man  claims  that 
he  has  lost  a  deed." 

The  "  Ohio   Claim  "   with   which   the   last 

presidential     election     made     us    acquainted, 

though  not  admirable   politically  or  morally, 

is  better  linguistically  than  this  Connecticut 

claim.     A    demand    for    all    the    offices   "  in 

sight ' '    may  be   correctly  characterized  as  a 

claim. 

"  They  claimed  he  used  the  United  States  mails 
for  the  purpose  of  swindling." 

"  Mr.  Stevens  of  Belgium  claimed  that  the  pris- 
oner owed  his  service  to  the  state." 

Carlyle  writes : 

"  It  is  maintained  by  Helvetius  and  his  set  that 
an  infant  of  genius  is  quite  the  same  as  any  other 
infant."     Sartor  Resartus,  Bk.  II.,  Ch.  ii. 

There  is  no  claim  in  this. 


io  Errors  of  Speech 

6.  This  is  a  favorite  word  with  many  per- 
sons, to  express  anything  large,  unusual,  sur- 
prising,— a  meaning  that  does  not 
Phenomenal. 

belong  to  the  word.     Phenomenon 

and  phenomenal  are  terms  of  philosophy,  op- 
posed to  noumenon  and  noumenal,  and  they 
refer  to  the  appearance  of  things,  as  opposed 
to  the  things  themselves, — the  former  being 
knowable  and  capable  of  being  described, 
while  the  latter,  if  there  are  any  latter,  are 
perhaps  forever  unknowable.  In  common 
language  these  opposed  terms  are  rarely  used, 
the  ideas  corresponding  to  them  having  rarely 
need  of  expression,  and  the  words  have  still 
the  appearance  of  words  foreign  to  the  lan- 
guage. A  sunrise,  a  snow-storm,  the  opening 
of  a  flower,  the  growth  of  a  child,  is  properly 
spoken  of  as  an  impressive  or  beautiful  phe- 
nomenon. It  was  so  much  more  natural,  how- 
ever, to  call  it  a  beautiful  spectacle,  scene, 
event,  or  change,  that  there  was  little  use  in 
ordinary  speech  for  phenomenon  in  its  proper 


Improprieties  1 1 

meaning,  and  still  less  for  phenomenal,  and  so 
the  words  have  been  captured  by  the  press- 
gang  of  writers,  and  forced  into  a  service  that 
is  alien  to  them. 

"  Mr.  Lamson  .  .  .  has  every  reason  to  hope 
that  before  long  he  will  attain  with  his  invention 
phenomenal  results  in  aerial  navigation." 

In  the  following  passage  the  word  is  cor- 
rectly used : 

"  When,  therefore,  Philosophy  proves  that  our 
knowledge  of  the  external  world  can  be  but  phe- 
nomenal— when  it  concludes  that  the  things  of 
which  we  are  conscious,  are  appearances,  it  inevi- 
tably arouses  in  us  the  notion  of  an  illusiveness 
like  that  to  which  our  visual  perceptions  are  so 
liable  in  comparison  with  our  tactual  perceptions." 
Spencer,  First  Principles,  Ch.  v. 

The  few  examples  of  improprieties  here 
presented  will  perhaps  be  enough  to  induce 
the  young  writer  to  give  some  thought  to  the 
choice  of  words,  and  this  is  all  that  can  be  ex- 
pected. As  soon  as  he  feels  the  desire  to  use 
words  rightly,  he  will  learn  how  to  find,  in 


12  Errors  of  Speech 

dictionaries  and  books  on  synonymy,  the  guid- 
ance that  he  needs.  Only  the  careless  feel- 
ing that  the  first  word  which  comes  to  hand  is 
good  enough,  prevents  the  writer  from  seeking 
the  word  that  shall  be  the  very  best  for  his 
purpose. 


CHAPTER   II. 

METAPHORS. 

I.  At  every  stage  in  the  growth  of  a  lan- 
guage and  of  its  literature  there  are  certain 
Worn-out  metaphors  which  are  current  and 
metaphors.  are  understood,  but  which  have  sur- 
vived whatever  usefulness  they  may  have  had. 
They  were  perhaps  picturesque  once  :  they 
presented  a  thought  in  a  striking  way,  or  fixed 
the  mind  very  strongly  on  one  particular  aspect 
of  a  subject;  but  by  dint  of  reiteration  they 
have  become  wearisome.  They  have  ceased  to 
add  force  to  a  presentation ;  and  the  moment 
they  fail  to  add  clearness  or  force  they  become 
mere  encumbrances,  not  only  useless,  but  harm- 
ful. It  would  be  easy  to  make  a  long  list  of 
them.  A  few  of  them  are :  iron  horse,  iron 
heel  of  tyranny,  leaden  hail,  procrustean  bed, 
ship  of  state,  upas  tree,  saturnalia,  holocaust, 

13 


14  Errors  of  Speech 

phoenix,  perhaps  also  alma  mater.  Some  of 
these  are  seldom  met  with  now,  perhaps  never, 
though  they  once  moved  in  very  respectable 
company.  Others  obtrude  themselves  on  us 
daily  in  the  newspapers  and  magazines,  and 
not  a  few  find  their  way  into  college  orations, 
sermons,  and  political  platforms. 

2.  Besides  the  metaphors  that  are  worn  out, 
there  are  others  that  never  were  good.  They 
Bad  are  based  on  a  false  analogy.  They 
metaphors.  assume  a  resemblance  between  the 
thing  represented  and  the  thing  representing 
it  that  does  not  exist ;  or  they  are  based  on 
a  resemblance  in  some  aspect  or  quality  which 
is  only  an  accident  and  not  an  essential. 

3.  Tidal-wave y    as  a  name   for  a   swift  and 

powerful   movement  of  opinion   or  feeling,  is 

such  a  metaphor.     If   an  election 
Tidal-wave. 

turns   out   the   party  in  power,  a 

tidal-wave  is  said  to  have  swept  the  country. 

The  context  always  shows  that  the  writer  is 

thinking  of  the  tidal-wave  as  something  swift 


Metaphors  1 5 

and  terrible.  It  is  in  fact  no  such  thing,  how- 
ever, but  only  a  very  gentle  rise  and  fall  of  the 
water  of  the  ocean,  through  a  height  of  half  a 
dozen  feet  in  twelve  hours.  It  is  indeed  not 
perceived  as  a"  wave  '"  at  all,  except  by  the 
eye  of  science.  The  fact  seems  to  be  that  the 
name  tidal-wave  was  given,  in  mere  ignorance, 
to  one  of  those  rare  and  formidable  disturb- 
ances of  the  ocean  that  are  caused  by  earth- 
quake shocks  or  volcanic  eruptions,  such  as 
the  memorable  wave  that  followed  the  fall  of  a 
large  part  of  the  volcano  Krakatoa  into  the 
sea,  and  that,  as  the  name  sounded  mysterious 
and  imposing,  it  continued  to  be  used,  to  give 
dignity  to  comparatively  trifling  events.  It 
throws  no  light,  however,  on  the  phenomenon 
to  which,  as  a  supposed  metaphor,  it  is  ap- 
plied, and  when  we  look  for  the  real  meaning 
of  it  we  find  it  misleading.  A  literal  ex- 
pression, as  "  a  great  movement  of  popular 
thought,"  "  a  powerful  uprising  of  the  con- 
science of  the  people,"  would  carry  with  it  no 


1 6  Errors  of  Speech 

false  implication,   and  its  meaning  would  be 

clear. 

4.  Akin   to   the   last   error   is    the    use    of 

cyclone  in  nearly  the  same  sense.     A  cyclone, 

like    a    tidal-wave,    is    one    of    the 
Cyclone. 

large  and  deliberate  movements  of 

nature  which  have  very  little  of  terror  or 
destructiveness  in  them.  A  cyclone  is  an 
atmospheric  movment  of  large  extent,  often  a 
thousand  miles  or  more  in  diameter,  and 
throughout  nearly  the  whole  of  the  area  that 
it  covers,  gentle  and  beneficent.  Cyclones 
and  anti-cyclones  are  passing  over  our  heads 
continually,  and,  except  when  we  happen  to 
be  very  near  their  centres,  we  never  think  of 
them  as  terrible,  and  hardly  know  of  their  ex- 
istence, save  as  windy  or  rainy  weather.  The 
thing  that  the  fine  writer  had  in  his  mind  when 
he  called  a  sudden  and  violent  outburst  of 
national  frenzy  a  "  cyclone  of  patriotic  fervor  " 
was  not  a  cyclone :  it  was  a  hurricane  or  tor- 
nado; but  there  was  something  high-sounding 


Metaphors  1 7 

and  mysterious  in  the  word,  and  so  it  seemed 
to  him  good. 

5.   Carnival  is   another  word   that   is   mis- 
used in  the  some  way.     When  the  orthodox 

Catholic  Italians  are  about  entering 

Carnival.  to 

on  their  long  lenten  fast,  they  allow 

themselves  one  period  of  unrestrained  fun  be- 
fore they  bid  good-bye  to  the  pleasures  of  the 
table.  But,  because  they  pelt  each  other  with 
candies  and  little  bags  of  flour,  and  take  such 
liberties  with  each  other  as  at  other  times  they 
would  not  venture  to  take,  the  metaphor-dealer 
thinks  two  or  three  house-burnings  ought  to  be 
called  a  carnival  of  fire,  and  half  a  dozen 
murders  a  carnival  of  blood.  That  his  meta- 
phor, instead  of  making  clear  his  meaning, 
only  beclouds  it,  concerns  him  little  :  it  sounds 
well,  he  thinks.  His  last  misuse  of  the  word 
surpasses  all  previous  ones :  in  a  public  adver- 
tisement which  stares  at  us  from  the  fences,  he 
calls  a  great  sale  at  a  "  department  store,"  a 
"  mammoth  bargain  carnival." 


1 8  Errors  of  Speech 

6.  Handicap.     To  handicap  a  competitor  in  a 

race  is  to  give  others  an  advantage  over  him  by 

letting  them  start  in  advance  of  him, 
Handicap. 

or  by  making  him  carry  a  load.    The 

essential  idea  in  the  word  is  that  there  is  a  con- 
test, and  that  the  chances  of  the  contestants  are 
to  be  made  nearly  equal.  A  person  is  not ' '  han- 
dicapped "  in  an  undertaking  when  he  encoun- 
ters obstacles,  or  when  he  is  not  properly 
equipped  for  his  work,  unless  he  is  in  competi- 
tion with  others,  nor  even  then,  if  only  his  own 
infirmity  or  bad  luck  is  in  the  way.  The  word, 
therefore,  is  wrongly  used  in  the  following 
examples : 

"  For  a  long  time  the  scientific  bureaus  of  the 
government  have  felt  themselves  badly  handi- 
capped by  the  need  of  resorting  to  special  ex- 
aminations." 

The  bureaus  may  have  been  annoyed,  or 
hampered,  or  put  to  much  trouble;  but  they 
were  not  handicapped. 

"  The  new  cabinet  officers  find  themselves  very 


Metaphors  19 

seriously  handicapped  in  their  plans  for  reorganiz- 
ing their  departments  by  the  Civil  Service  law." 

7.  "  There  will  be  an  orgy  of  increased 
Orcry. 

armaments." 

8.  "  The  sin,  as  it  seems  to  me,  would 

Case-  ^  to  feej  or  fancy  ourselves  case-hard- 

hardened.  .  ' 

ened  against  the  will  of  our  Maker. 

9.  "Wall  Street  had  a  lesson  in  this  direction 

which  will  never  be  forgotten,  during  the  brewing 

of  the  disturbance  which  ended  in  the 
Brewing.  „ 

Iranco-Prussian  war. 

10.  How  bad  a  figure  is  the  word  thorn  in 

the  following  example,  is  evident  at 
Thorn. 

a  glance : 

"  Katarina,  which,  it  is  said,  will  be  bombarded, 
is  the  port  of  Elassona,  and,  if  it  falls  into  the 
hands  of  the  Greeks,  will  be  a  thorn  in  Edhem 
Pasha's  communications." 

A  word  is,  of  course,  not  to  be  rejected  be- 
cause it  is  figurative.  It  is  a  commonplace 
that  most  of  the  every-day  words  that  have  no 
figurative  association  now  were  originally  fig- 
ures of  speech;  that  lady,  husband,  king,  con- 
gress, parlor,  person,  and  a  thousand  others 
meant  originally  something  very  different  from 


20  Errors  of  Speech 

what  they  mean  now,  and  that  the  first  use  of 
any  of  them  in  its  present  meaning  was  a  bold 
and  effective  metaphor.  It  is  in  this  way  that 
language  has  grown,  and,  to  a  less  extent,  still 
grows.  A  metaphoric  term,  however,  if  it  is 
going  to  establish  itself  as  a  mere  name  for 
something,  a  new  word  without  its  first  poeti- 
cal associations,  soon  asserts  its  right  to  its  new 
rank;  and  if  it  fails  to  do  this  soon  it  has  to 
retire:  it  is  neither  a  common  word  nor  a 
metaphor,  and  it  is  in  the  way.  Iron  road  has 
established  itself  as  the  every-day  name  of  the 
railway  in  France,  Germany,  Italy,  and  Spain ; 
but  iron  horse  has  been  rejected  in  all  these  as 
well  as  in  England  and  America,  and  nobody 
wants  it  now,  even  as  a  figure  of  speech.  So  it 
is  with  the  other  words  cited.  And  it  is  not 
the  critics  only  who  reject  such  tattered  figures : 
the  common  people  are  just  as  quick,  and  the 
speaker  or  writer  who  indulges  too  much  in 
"  fine  writing  M  will  often  find  them  smiling  at 
his  flights. 


Metaphors  2 1 

As  to  the  question  of  using  or  not  using  a 
figure  of  speech  that  offers  itself  (it  should 
never  be  sought  for),  the  best  course  perhaps 
is  to  let  it  stand,  in  one's  first  draught,  and 
consider  carefully,  on  revision,  whether  it  shall 
be  rejected.  That  which  can  bear  the  sober 
second  thought — or  the  soberer  third  thought 
— may  generally  be  allowed  to  pass. 


CHAPTER    III. 

GRAMMAR. 

T^  AULTS  in  grammar  range  all  the  way  from 
A  the  gravest,  such  as  no  one  who  has 
learned  the  rudiments  of  grammar  would  be 
guilty  of,  to  those  evanescent  ones  that  lie  in 
the  neutral  zone  between  what  is  certainly 
forbidden  and  what  is  certainly  allowed,  from 
the  jargon  of  the  newsboy  to  the  doubtful 
solecisms  of  the  editor,  from  "  I  aint  got 
none,"  and  "  them  *s  mine,"  to  "  wishing  to 
thus  despoil  the  park." 

Faults  of  the  first  class  I  had  at  first  intended 
not  to  discuss;  but,  besides  that  it  is  difficult 
to  say  where  the  boundary  of  this  class  lies, 
there  are  many  faults  that  might  be  considered 
as  falling  within  this  line,  which  are  yet  so 
common  that  writers — particularly  young  writ- 
ers— need  to  be  cautioned  against  them.     For 

22 


Grammar  23 

this  reason  I  shall  include  under  the  present 
heading  a  few  expressions  that  some  readers 
may  think  it  unnecessary  to  touch  upon. 

Among  the  commonest  errors  in  grammar 
are  the  errors  in  agreement.  They  occur  in 
several  ways : 

V  1.  A  nominative  is  often  treated  as  an  accu- 
sative, through  the  accident  of  its  standing 

near  a  verb  that  governs  the  accusa- 
Accusative 

for  nomi-     tive :  "The  man  whom  I  supposed 

native 

was  the  ringleader  turns  out  to  be 

quite  innocent."  Those  who  fall  into  this  very 
common  but  inexcusable  error  may  think  of 
whom  as  the  object  of  supposed  (if  they  can  be 
said  to  think  at  all),  and  forget  that  whom  can- 
not be  the  subject  of  was.  If  was  is  used,  who 
must  be  its  subject,  and  the  sentence  must 
read:  "  .  .  .  who,  I  thought,  was  the  ring- 
leader." It  must  be  admitted  that  this  has  a 
bad  effect :  the  reader  can  hardly  avoid  the  im- 
pression at  first,  that  who  is  meant  as  the  object 
of  thought,  and  that  the  writer  is  guilty  of  a 


24  Errors  of  Speech 

blunder.  He  is  set  right  when  he  comes  to 
the  word  was,  and  sees  that  who  is  really  not 
an  object  but  a  subject;  but  the  mischief  has 
been  done, — the  transparency  of  the  sentence 
has  been  clouded.  It  is  not  enough  that  the 
meaning  of  the  sentence  should  become  clear 
when  the  end  is  reached :  there  should  not  be 
any  hesitation  or  doubt  at  any  point  in  its 
progress.  It  is  true  that  commas  before  and 
after  /  thought  direct  the  attention  to  the 
proper  construction ;  but  it  is  much  to  be  pre- 
ferred that  the  meaning  should  appear  clearly, 
independently  of  punctuation,  and  so  the  pas- 
sage should  read:  "  the  man  that  I  thought  to 
be  the  ringleader." 

The  following  are  examples  of  this  fault 
which  the  reader  will  easily  correct: 

"  There  is  abundant  evidence  to  show  that  he 
was  at  least  one  of  the  distinguished  men  whom 
Gruter  says  had  access  to  Gilbert's  writing  in  its 
unpublished  form." 

"  But  you  must  not  shut  your  eyes  to  the  fact 
that  I  am  only  a  chemist,  a  shopkeeper,     .     .     . 


Grammar  25 

one  whom  your  people  would  say  was  no  fit  friend 
for  you." 

"  Epicurus  writes  a  letter  to  Idomeneus  .  .  . 
to  recommend  to  him,  who  had  made  so  many  men 
rich,  one  Pythocles,  a  friend  of  his,  whom  he  de- 
sired might  be  made  a  rich  man  too." 

" .  .  .  an  odd  brother  who  sat  on  the  same 
benches  in  the  ancient  chapel  .  .  .  and  one 
whom,  if  we  may  credit  what  another  philosopher 
high  in  favor  in  court  said  about  him,  was  a  testy 
and  crusty  old  gentleman." 

2.  A  careless  writer  sometimes  refers  a  pro- 
noun back,  in  his  imagination,  to  a  noun  that 

has  no   existence   in   the   sentence, 
Pronoun 

without        leaving  it  thus  in  the  unfortunate 
"  predicament  of  a  word  that  "  stands 
for  a  noun,"  but  which  has  no  noun  that  it  can 
stand  for: 

"  There  are  three  slave  markets  outside  of  Africa 
which  make  the  business  of  the  Arab  slave-hunters 
profitable  in  certain  parts  of  Africa,  namely,  Zan- 
zibar, Arabia,  and  Egypt.  In  Egypt  they  are  in 
demand  as  household  slaves." 

Here  the  writer  evidently  meant  to  say  that 


26  Errors  of  Speech 

the  slaves  are  in  demand,  but  he  does  say,  if  he 
says  anything,  that  the  three  slave  markets  are 
in  demand :  he  has  not  provided  the  pronoun 
they  with  any  antecedent. 

"  A  camel's  gait  is  a  peculiar  one,  they  go  some- 
thing like  a  pig  with  the  fore  and  like  a  cow  with 
the  hind  legs." 

This  also  is  a  common  error;  but  it  is  one 
that  could  be  very  easily  avoided.  It  is  only 
necessary  that  the  writer  should  cultivate  the 
habit  of  looking  back  whenever  he  uses  a  pro- 
noun, to  see  whether  there  is  an  antecedent  to 
which  it  unmistakably  refers.  In  this  way 
the  habit  of  correct  reference  will  soon  be 
formed. 

3.  Often  there  are  two  nouns  in  the  sen- 
tence, and  the  writer  refers  the  pronoun,  in  his 

„  mind,  to  the  wrong  one.     An  adver- 

Pronoun : 

wrong  an-    tisement  of  some  fine  silks  reads  as 

tecedent.       ,  ,, 

follows : 

"  Simpson,  Crawford  &  Simpson  having  bought 


Grammar  27 

the  entire  collection  they  will  be  on  exhibition  in 
our  windows  this  week." 

The  purchasing  of  some  silks  hardly  deserves, 
one  would  think,  so  severe  a  punishment  as 
that  which  the  gentlemen's  advertising  agent 
seems  to  propose.  The  fault  here  would  have 
been  detected  if  the  writer  had  paused  to  in- 
quire what  they  referred  to.  He  would  then 
probably  have  written:  "  The  entire  collection 
having  been  purchased  .  .  .  will  be  ex- 
hibited." It  is  not  common  to  find  examples 
of  this  fault  so  ludicrous  as  this  and  the  follow- 
ing, from  a  standard  text-book : 

"  To  the  group  of  Dinosaurs  belongs  the  Iguano- 
don,  of  the  Wealden  beds,  first  made  known  by 
Dr.  Mantell,  whose  body  was  28  to  30  feet  long." 

A  great  railroad  has  for  years  kept  the  fol- 
lowing request  before  the  eyes  of  all  its  passen- 
gers : 

"  In  case  of  accident,  pull  the  handle  of  this 
valve  up  as  far  as  it  will  go  ;  when  the  train  has 
come  to  a  stop  pull  it  back  to  its  former  position." 


28  Errors  of  Speech 

It  is  not  known  that  any  passenger  has  tried 

to  do  the  thing  proposed,  and  so  the  notice 

has  done  no  harm  perhaps;  but  why  should 

not  the  writer  of  it  have  looked  to  his  pronoun, 

before  sending  it  out  into  the  world  in  such 

ambiguous  company  ? 

/    4.  This  mental  referring,  by  the  writer,  of  a 

pronoun  to  the  wrong  antecedent,  or  of  a  verb 

to   the   wrong   subject    causes,  fre- 
Disagree- 

ment  in        quently,    disagreement    in   number. 

number.         „.  .  , 

lhis   is  a  very  common  class-room 

error,  but  it   is  subtle  enough  also  to  entrap 

many  a  respectable   writer,  as   the   following 

examples  show : 

"  When  I  recollect  to  what  complete  perfection 
the  culture  of  many  of  the  best  productions  of  the 
earth  have  been  brought  in  France     .     .     ." 

"  The  idea  of  these  dangers  were  interesting 
rather  than  unpleasant." 

"...  his  [Lord  Salisbury's]  attitude  toward 
the  American  contentions  in  Behring  Sea  are  im- 
possible to  forecast." 

"  It  was  kept  by  a  brother  and  sister,  neither  of 
whom  was  out  of  their  teens." 


Grammar  29 

"  Every  one  of  them  pressed  forward  to  do  some- 
thing for  him,  and  seemed  discouraged  if  they  were 
not  employed." 

"  And  sometimes  he  stands  up  while  everybody 
else  is  on  their  knees." 

"...  and  assumed  that,  but  for  the  fear  of 
being  burned,  or  for  the  hope  of  being  rewarded, 
anybody  would  pass  their  lives  in  lying,  stealing 
and  murdering." 

"  It  must  always  be  remembered  that  a  fungus, 
which  may  be  perfectly  harmless  if  cooked  and 
eaten  while  fresh,  would  just  as  probably  be  dele- 
terious if  gathered  and  kept  for  a  day  or  two  with- 
out cooking.  Chemical  changes  take  place  so 
rapidly  that  they  cannot  be  cooked  too  soon,  and 
not  even  the  common  mushrooms  should  be  kept 
longer  than  possible." 


5.  The    participles    give    a    great    deal    of 

trouble,  which  may,  however,  be  avoided  if  the 

writer  will  take  the  pains  to  inquire, 
Participle : 
wrong  concerning  every  participle,  what  it 

relates  to,  and  will  see  that  he  does 

not  allow  it  to  appear  to  relate  to  any  other 

word.     The  fault  under  consideration  presents 

itself  in  a  great  variety  of  ways,  and  requires 


30  Errors  of  Speech 

various  treatment.     The  following  specimens 
will  sufficiently  illustrate  it : 

"  But  this  officer,  hoping  that  by  refusing  this 
humane  request  the  Cubans  would  desist  in  the 
bombardment,  absolutely  prohibited  the  exit  of 
non-combatants  from  the  town." 

"  By  refusing  "  was  obviously  meant  to  refer 
to  "  this  officer,"  but,  if  the  writer  had  asked 
himself  the  question,  What  does  it  refer  to  ?  he 
would  have  seen,  or  ought  to  have  seen,  that  it 
refers  to  "  the  Cubans. "  The  false  reference 
would  have  been  corrected  if  he  had  written, 
"  hoping  that,  if  he  refused  the  request,  the 
Cubans  would  stop  the  bombardment    ..." 

"  Rising  with  the  sun,  a  dish  of  kumis  or  mare's 
milk,  and  a  small  cup  of  black  coffee  are  the  only 
refreshments  formally  partaken  of." 

If  the  writer  of  this  had  inquired  what  "  rising 

with   the   sun "   referred   to,    he   would   have 

found  that  it  referred  to  "  a  dish  of  kumis," 

though  he  meant  it,  no  doubt,  to  refer  to  some 

person,  whom,  however,  he  has  neglected  to 

mention, 


Grammar  31 

"  Being  a  great  seaport,  one  sees  plenty  of  sea- 
faring faces,  .  .  .  and  being  at  the  same  time 
an  important  naval  and  military  station  for  Great 
Britain,  another  picturesque  element  is  made  up  of 
the  gay  uniforms  of  soldiers  and  sailors." 

"  Dressed  all  in  black  broadcloth,  with  a  wide- 
leafed  black  felt  hat,  hands  in  pockets,  I  had  first 
met  him  striding  leisurely  down  the  wide  main 
street  of  Fort  Atkinson." 


-I 


6.  The  English  language  allows  a  degree  of 
freedom  in  the  use  of  the  passive  form  that  is 
Passive  often  conducive  to  rapidity  and 
voice.  force,  but  which  is,  in  the  present 

day,  much  abused.     The  following  sentences 
can  hardly  be  considered  good : 

"  What  then  is  the  use  of  these  investigations,  by 
which  the  correlation  and  equivalence  of  force  is 
sought  to  be  established  ? " 

"  The  next  I  knew  the  bill  was  agreed  to  be 
favorably  reported." 

"  A  portion  of  Duncan's  coat  of  mail  is  pretended 
to  be  shown  there." 

"  Mr.  Peckham  conceded  that  the  contract  was 
only  an  agreement  by  which  .  .  .  the  secret 
undercutting  of  rates  is  sought  to  be  avoided." 

"  The  taxing  power  was  never  before  threatened 
to  be  so  ruthlessly  and  defiantly  used," 


32  Errors  of  Speech 

"  The  clover,  which  was  to  be  begun  cutting  on 
the  morrow     .     .     ." 

Bad  as  these  appear,  however,  it  would  be 
easy  to  make  a  collection  of  expressions  lead- 
ing up  to  these,  by  easy  steps,  from  others 
with  which  no  fault  could  be  found : 

"  The  spy  was  executed  the  next  morning." 

"  The  debts  were  paid." 

"  It  was  expected  that  the  debts  would  be  paid." 

"  He  was  ordered  to  be  executed." 

"  The  debts  were  expected  to  be  paid." 

The  first  three  of  these  sentences  are  beyond 
criticism;  the  fourth  is  to  be  justified,  if  at  all, 
either  because,  in  spite  of  opposition,  it  has 
established  its  right  to  exist,  or  because  "  to 
order  to  be  executed  "  may  be  regarded  as  a 
compound  verb,  capable  of  being  used  in  the 
passive  voice ;  but  for  the  last  neither  of  these 
excuses  can  be  urged,  and  as  it  is  unnecessary, 
it  should  be  avoided.  One  can  say  with 
greater  simplicity,  "  It  was  expected  that  the 
debts   would  be  paid,"   and   some   analogous 


Grammar  33 

turn  of  expression  can  always  be  found  in  such 

cases. 

7.    Perhaps    the    worst   cases    of    the   kind 

under   consideration   are   those  in   which  the 

verb  that  is  put  into  the  passive  form 
Passive, 

verbs  of      is  one  that  governs  both  a  dative  and 

giving.  .  . 

an     accusative,    as    give,    promise, 

award,  allow,  guarantee,  and  some  others.  A 
noun  in  the  accusative  may  be  put  into  the  nom- 
inative if  the  construction  of  the  sentence  is 
changed  from  active  to  passive:  "  He  fought  a 
battle"  may  become:  "  A  battle  was  fought." 
"  They  gave  a  great  banquet  "  may  become: 
"  A  great  banquet  was  given  "  ;  and  such  change 
is  sometimes  advantageous,  as  fixing  the  atten- 
tion on  the  act  rather  than  the  actor.  A  noun 
or  pronoun  in  the  dative,  however,  representing 
the  person  to  whom  something  is  given,  cannot 
properly  be  thus  made  nominative.  "  They 
gave  him  a  consulship  as  a  reward  for  his  services 
to  his  party  "  is  good  English,  if  bad  morality, 
but  "  He  was  given  a  consulship  as  a  reward  " 


34  Errors  of  Speech 

must  be  condemned  under  both  heads;  and  it 
has  not  even  the  defence  of  directness  or  force, 
since  "  He  was  rewarded  with  a  consulship," 
or  "A  consulship  was  his  reward,"  would  be  at 
least  equally  direct.  Indolence  is  the  only- 
excuse  for  such  expressions.  Every  one  of  the 
following  examples  can  easily  be  made  correct 
without  suffering  in  force: 

"  There  have  been  many  editions  of  the  Diary 
[Pepys's],  but  it  is  only  now  that  the  public  is  given 
a  complete  one." 

But  no  complete  one  has  been  given  till 
now  "  is  better,  not  only  for  the  reason  already 
given,  but  because  edition  and  not  public  should 
lead,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sentence  as  in  the 
former  part. 

"  Among  the  men  who  attended  were  a  delega- 
tion from  the  City  Club  Committee  on  Legislation 
which  was  given  power  to  act  on  charter  matters." 

'  Which  had  been  empowered  "  would  correct 
the  bad  passive  form  and  the  wrong  tense  at 
the  same  time. 


Grammar  35 

"  At  the  same  time  it  is  essential  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  merit  system  that  the  subordinate  shall 
in  some  way  be  assured  protection  from  the  danger 
of  removal  without  cause." 

The  awkward  locution  could  have  been  avoided 
by  so  simple  a  change  as  the  insertion  of  the 
preposition  0/"  after  assured. 

"  It  is  understood  however,  that  Sir  Herbert 
Kitchener  will  be  given  the  command  of  the  army 
of  occupation." 

So  simple  a  change  as  "  Sir  Herbert  Kitchener 
will  receive  the  command  .  .  .",  or  "  The 
command  will  be  given  to  Sir  Herbert  .  .  .", 
would  make  the  sentence  correct  without  mak- 
ing it  less  idiomatic  or  forcible. 

"  '  The  resolution  must  follow  the  usual  course,' 
sharply  replied  the  Speaker,  and  so  the  House  was 
not  given  an  opportunity  of  deciding  whether  it 
wanted  to  sympathize  with  the  Greeks  or  not." 

"  The  pretension  of  a  protectorate  is  directly 
contrary  to  the  history  and  traditions  of  this  coun- 
try, and  was  given  diplomatic  life  only  through  the 
extraordinary  combination  of  qualities  which  made 
Mr.  Blaine  a  successful  demagogue." 


36  Errors  of  Speech 

The  idiomatic  character  of  the  expression  is 
one  of  the  defences  most  commonly  set  up  in 
such  cases  as  these,  and  examples  are  often 
cited  from  good  writers.  It  is  true  that  many 
forms  of  expression  which  do  not  conform 
strictly  to  rules  of  grammar  have  found  ac- 
ceptance, and  have  become  idioms  of  one 
language  or  another.  It  is  also  true,  however, 
that  idioms  which  do  not  conduce  to  force  and 
clearness,  but  rather  to  weakness  and  obscurity, 
acquire  no  particular  sacredness  merely  be- 
cause of  their  being  idioms.  And  as  for  good 
writers  and  their  usage,  there  is  no  infallible 
writer,  and  no  expression  can  be  justified 
merely  by  the  fact  that  it  was  used  by  Addi- 
son, or  Swift,  or  Johnson,  or  even  by  De  Quin- 
cey,  or  Lamb,  or  Eliot.  Even  in  spite  of  the 
usage  of  many  good  writers,  we  are  justified  in 
avoiding  a  given  form  if  it  is  bad  on  theoretical 
grounds,  provided  the  required  meaning  can 
be  equally  well  expressed  by  another  form,  not 
open  to  the  same  objections. 


Grammar  37 

8.  This  construction,  which  is  not  often  met 

with   in   America,    is  rather   common    among 

_  English  writers:   "  I  expected  him 

Pluperfect  &  r 

for  past       to  have  come  to  see  me  "  should  be 

future.  ((  T  ... 

1   expected   him   to   come  to  see 

me."     The  action  of  coining  was,  at  the  time 
of  the  expecting,  not  past,  but  future. 

So:  "  Might  have  been  expected  to  have 
gone,"  which  is  quoted  from  Froude  by  Richard 
Grant  White,  should  be  "  Might  have  been  ex- 
pected to  go."  The  corrections  in  the  follow- 
ing examples  are  obvious : 

"  It  would  have  behooved  him  as  a  physician 
.  .  .  to  have  regarded  his  own  pursuits  in  a 
peculiarly  philosophical  spirit." 

"  She  would  have  given  much,  however,  to  have 
escaped  this  business." 

''  What  the  English  ought  to  have  done  was  to 
have  supported  their  natural  ally,  the  Sultan." 

"  A  vivacious  old  man  whom  I  took  to  have  been 
the  devil,  drew  near  and  questioned  me  about  our 
journey." 

"  It  would  have  gone  to  your  heart  to  have  heard 
the  moans  the  dumb  creature  made  on  the  day  of 
my  master's  death." 


38  Errors  of  Speech 

Here  is  Macaulay's  treatment  of  such  a  case: 

"  It  would  therefore  have  been  mere  insanity  to 
leave  him  in  possession  of  that  plenitude  of  mili- 
tary authority  which  his  ancestors  had  enjoyed." 
History  of  England,  Ch.  i. 

9.  This  fault  is  very  common  in  New  York 
among  young  people,  and  particularly  among 
Preterit  those  who  have  been  brought  up  in 
for  perfect.  German  surroundings.  I  frequently 
hear,  and  sometimes  read:  "  I  did  not  get  ex- 
cused yet,"  "  I  did  not  study  so  far  to-day." 
The  rule  is  inflexible  in  English,  that  a  past 
action  in  a  time  not  yet  finished,  no  matter 
how  long  the  time  named  may  be,  whether  it 
be  this  day,  this  week,  or  this  century,  must 
be  in  the  perfect  tense,  while  an  action  in  a 
time  which  is  finished,  however  short  the 
time  may  be,  though  it  be  only  "  five  minutes 
ago,"  or"  this  morning,"  provided  I  am  speak- 
ing this  afternoon,  must  be  in  the  preterit. 
"  Nothing  like  it  has  been  seen  this  century," 

I  have  seen  it  within  five  minutes,   though 


Grammar  39 

I  cannot  remember  where,"  "  I  met  him 
more  than  five  minutes  ago," — these  are  all 
correct.  "  I  have  not  seen  him  this  morn- 
ing "  and  "  I  did  not  see  him  this  morning  " 
are  also  both  correct,  provided  the  first  is  said 
while  the  morning  is  yet  unfinished,  and  the 
second  after  the  morning  is  finished.  This 
distinction  does  not  hold  in  some  other  lan- 
guages, but  it  is  rigorous  in  English.  It  is 
even  impossible  to  give  examples  of  the  neglect 
of  it  from  fairly  good  writers,  and  it  is  in  this 
respect  unlike  most  of  the  other  faults  cited  in 
this  work. 

10.  The  substitution  of  the  preterit  for  the 
pluperfect,  as  in  the  following,  is  a  less  com- 
Preterit  for  mon  error>  though  I  meet  with  it 
Pluperfect.  occasi0nally  among  speakers  or 
writers  of  German  descent : 

"  Her  Sylvander  was  seventeen  years  in  the 
grave  when  her  husband  died." 

11.  There  has  been  much  controversy  as  to 
the  propriety  of  separating  the  particle  to  from 


40  Errors  of  Speech 

the  verb  of  which  it  is  a  part,  for  the  purpose 
of  putting  an  adverb  or  an  adverbial  phrase 
Divided  between.  Shall  we  write,  as  one  of 
infinitive.  our  daily  papers  does,  "  It  would  be 
a  shame,  some  said,  to  thus  despoil  this  beauti- 
ful park,"  or  rather,  as  Washington  Irving  did, 
"  Oliver  Goldsmith  will  be  found  faithfully  to 
inherit  the  virtues  and  the  weaknesses  of  his 
race  "  ?  The  practice  of  good  writers  and 
particularly  of  careful  ones  is  in  favor  of  the 
latter,  though  a  large  collection  can  be  made, 
and  has  been  made  by  Fitzedward  Hall,  of 
passages  supporting  the  former.  Of  such  an 
array  of  citations  this  must  be  said :  There  is 
scarcely  any  form  of  expression,  however  bad, 
that  cannot  be  shown  to  have  been  used  by 
some  moderately  good  writers  or  even  by  some 
great  one.  From  Shakspere's  "  between  you 
and  I,"  all  the  way  up,  or  down,  to  Byron's 
11  there  let  him  lay,"  examples  can  be  found 
of  almost  every  fault  that  can  be  named.  The 
difficulties  of  rhythm  and  rhyme,  the  energy 


Grammar  41 

sometimes  supposed  to  belong  to  vulgar  forms 
of  speech,  the  fierce  rush  of  inspired  utterance 
which  will  not  pick  and  choose  but  must  come 
forth  at  once, — all  these  and  more  are  cited 
in  justification  of  such  lapses.  They  are  at 
best  excuses  only;  and  while  the  writer  may 
be  pardoned  for  using  such  speech  at  first, 
rather  than  interrupt  the  swift  current  of  his 
thought,  he  is  inexcusable  for  not  having 
amended  it  when  the  time  for  quiet  correction 
came.  Moreover,  while  much  may  be  forgiven 
to  the  authors  of  Othello  and  Childe  Harold, 
the  rank  and  file  of  writers  have  no  right  to 
expect  the  immunity  of  genius  for  their  blun- 
ders, but  must  seek  to  please  by  correct  and 
graceful  expression. 

12.  It  is  said,  in  answer  to  the  objections  to 
the  divided  infinitive,  that   the  separating  of 

the  particle  is  not  a  violation  of  any 
Divided 
infinitive:    rule  of  grammar,  and  that  it  some- 

apo  ogy.      tjmes  helps  the  writer  over  the  dif- 
ficulty,  so  often  encountered,  of  getting  the 


42  Errors  of  Speech 

adverb  into  close  connection  with  the  verb 
that  it  qualifies.  As  to  the  first  statement, 
the  answer  is  that  to,  as  the  sign  of  the  infini- 
tive, is  not  the  preposition  to,  nor  is  it  prop- 
erly a  word  at  all.  It  is  only  the  sign  of 
the  mood,  as  en,  oir,  ar,  etc.,  are  in  other 
languages.  This  is  fully  recognized  in  com- 
mon speech  and  writing,  and  no  one  would 
think  of  saying ' '  I  hope  to  safely  arrive, "  ' '  He 
promised  to  as  quickly  as  possible  come,"  "  I 
thought  I  should  be  able  to  before  it  was  too 
late  see  him."  In  all  these  absurd  instances 
the  object  that  seems  to  be  generally  in  view 
has  been  accomplished, — the  adverb  has  been 
hedged  in  where  there  can  be  no  possible  doubt 
as  to  what  it  refers  to,  but  at  what  a  cost! 
Absurd  as  these  examples  are,  they  are  only  a 
little  more  objectionable  than  hundreds  that 
one  might  jot  down  in  a  month's  reading  from 
college  compositions,  magazine  articles,  scien- 
tific reports,  and  even  more  pretentious  writ- 
ings : 


Grammar  43 

"We  cannot  suppose  that  Columbia  College 
would  be  so  discourteous  as  to  gratuitously  ignore 
our  challenge." 

"  Some  air-castles  he  built  so  often  that  he  seemed 
to  fairly  dwell  in  them." 

"  They  were  said  to  always  buy  everything  of 
the  best." 

"  The  governor  ...  [of  the  engine]  is  free 
to  instantly  respond  to  variations  in  the  rate  of 
motion." 

"  He  hoped  to  really  interest  the  readers  of  his 
journal  in  the  affair." 

"  He  then  saw  his  way  to  completely  supply  this 
want." 

It  is  not  easy  to  see  what  advantage  these 
expressions  have  over  the  following : 

"  Nor  will  it  be  less  my  duty  faithfully  to  record 
disasters  mingled  with  triumphs."  Macaulay, 
Hist,  of  England,  Ch.  i. 

"  Senator  Sherman's  acceptance  of  the  State 
portfolio  made  it  a  necessity  for  him  at  once  pub- 
licly to  recant."     Evening  Post,  Jan.  16,  1897. 

"  We  may  form  a  pretty  accurate  idea  of  the 
quality  of  these  productions  from  the  fact  that 
Quintus  Cicero,  in  order  homceopathically  to  be- 
guile the  weariness  of  winter  quarters  in  Gaul, 
composed  four  tragedies  in  sixteen  days."  Momm- 
sen,  Rome.     Translated  by  Dickson,  iv.,  689. 


44  Errors  of  Speech 

"  The  Commission  does  not  assume  that  it  has 
been  able  to  anticipate  every  contingency,  nor 
.  .  .  altogether  to  avoid  omissions,  repetitions, 
and  mistakes."  W.  L.  Strong,  Report  on  New 
Charter. 

"  Fully  to  enter  into  such  a  subject  would  oc- 
cupy much  space."  Wallace,  Natural  Selection, 
Preface. 

"  Suitably  to  provide  against  this  is  the  mandate 
of  duty."     McKinley,  Inaugural  Address. 

"  He  will  do  well  constantly  to  try  himself  in  re- 
spect of  these,  steadily  to  widen  his  culture,  severely 
to  check  in  himself  the  provincial  spirit."  Mat- 
thew Arnold,  The  Literary  Influence  of  Academies. 

"  .  .  .  and  we  may  surely  be  led  somewhat 
to  distrust  our  judgment  of  them  by  observing 
what  ignoble  imaginations  have  sometimes  .  .  . 
occupied  the  hearts  of  others."  Ruskin,  The 
Ethics  of  the  Dust,  Ch.  vii. 

"  As  his  inclinations  were  to  philosophical  study, 
this  it  was  now  his  ambition  uninterruptedly  to 
pursue."  Benjamin,  The  Intellectual  Rise  in  Elec- 
tricity. 

"  It  brings  us  on  to  the  platform  where  alone  the 
best  and  highest  intellectual  work  can  be  said  fairly 
to  begin."  Matthew  Arnold,  The  Literary  In- 
fluence of  Acadeitiies. 

"...  we  ought  at  all  times  humbly  to  ac- 
knowledge our  sins  before  God."  Book  of  Common 
Prayer. 


Grammar  45 

"  If  so,  the  tendency  would  be  to  diminish 
slowly  the  planet's  mean  motion."  Kirkwood, 
Meteoric  Astronomy,  Ch.  iii. 

"  He  must  admit  that  it  [government]  had  been 
employed  in  some  instances  wholly  to  remove,  and 
in  many  considerably  to  correct  the  abusive  prac- 
tices and  usages  that  had  prevailed  in  the  state." 
Burke,  Reflections  on  the  Revolution  in  Fra?ice. 

"  Congress  shall  make  no  law  .  .  .  abridging 
the  right  of  the  people  peaceably  to  assemble,  and 
to  petition  the  Government  for  a  redress  of  griev- 
ances."    Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

13.  The  use  of  the  present  participle  as  a 

noun  requires  that   this  noun  be 
Participial 

noun  without   properly  governed ;    but    this    re- 
government.  .  .       .  11 
quirement  is  often  neglected. 

"  I  must  trust  to  the  reader  reposing  some  confi- 
dence in  my  accuracy." 

"  I  must  trust  to  the  reader's  reposing  some 
confidence  .  .  .  "  supplies  the  government 
required. 

"  And  I  presume  that  this  change  may  be  safely 
attributed  to  the  domestic  duck  flying  much  less 
and  walking  more  than  its  wild  parent." 


46  Errors  of  Speech 

"  No  case  is  on  record  of  a  variable  being  ceas- 
ing to  be  variable  under  cultivation." 

"  Upon  the  fellow  telling  him  he  would  warrant 
it  [the  axle]  the  knight  .  .  .  went  in  without 
further  ceremony." 

In  these  examples  the  possessive  govern- 
ment, the  right  one,  would  have  been  easily 
secured,  as  it  is  secured  in  the  following : 

"  No,  Mr.  Caudle,  no,  it 's  no  use  your  telling  me 
to  go  to  sleep."  Jerrold,  Mrs.  Caudle's  Curtain 
Lectures,  No.  3. 

"  If  any  one  has  such  a  scheme  of  policy  to  pro- 
pose, I  advise  his  proposing  it  anywhere  rather 
than  in  England."  Gladstone,  Letter  to  the 
Duke  of  Westminster. 

"  The  account  given  by  Herodotus  of  Xerxes's 
cutting  a  canal  through  the  isthmus  of  Athos  .  .  . 
is  much  more  strongly  attested  by  Thucydides. 
.   .    ."     Whately,  Rhetoric,  Part  I.,  Ch.  ii.,  Sec.  4. 

The  following  are  cases  in  which  the  fault 

could  not  have  been  so  easily  avoided ;  but  it 

could  have  been  avoided  nevertheless : 

"  We  need  not  be  surprised  at  this  system,  when 
it  does  act  under  confinement,  acting  not  quite 
regularly." 

"  ,     .     .     at  this   system's  acting  not  quite 


Grammar  47 

regularly  when  it  does  act,"  would  have  cor- 
rected the  error. 

"  Not  only  was  thought  made  treason,  but  men 
were  forced  to  reveal  their  thoughts  on  pain  of 
their  very  silence  being  punished  with  the  penalty 
of  treason." 

This  is  a  difficult  case,  because  of  the  harsh 

effect  of  putting  "  silence  "  into  the  possessive 

case ;  but  a  different  expression  can  easily  be 

found,  not  using  the  participle  at  all,  as :  "  .    .    . 

lest    their    very    silence    should   be   punished 

.     .     . "     Thus,  as  usual,  it  is  only  indolence 

or  haste  that  prevents  the  writer's  finding  the 

proper  expression,  provided  he  has  the  ability 

to  judge  what  is  proper. 

14.  This  fault,  of  leaving  a  participial  noun 

without  government,  is  very  common,  but  we 

Participle  are  n°t  to  suppose  that  it  occurs 
as  adjective.   every    tjme    we    fincj     a    participle 

unaccompanied  by  a  possessive.  In  the  follow- 
ing examples  the  participles  are  used  as  adjec- 
tives, and  need  no  possessive: 


48  Errors  of  Speech 

"  That  puts  the  President  in  the  most  attractive 
light  before  the  machine  workers,  for  what  could 
be  more  winning  than  this  picture  of  him  laying 
his  hand  on  the  General's  shoulder     .     .     .  ?  " 

"  We  should  have  been  face  to  face  with  an  un- 
paralleled political  betrayal — nothing  less  than  that 
of  the  chief  of  the  party  opposed  to  free  silver  at 
1 6  to  i  doing  his  best  to  force  free  silver  upon  us 
at  15%  to  i." 

The  following  is  a  doubtful  passage,  suscep- 
tible, perhaps,  of  either  interpretation : 

"  His  discourse  was  broken  off  by  his  man  tell- 
ing him  he  had  called  a  coach." 

15.  Of  the  prepositions  that  accompany 
verbs  there  are  some  that  are  parts  of  ad- 
Prepositions  verbial  phrases,  as  '  to  learn  by 
with  verbs.      heart> »»  «  tQ  discuss  at  length, "  "  I 

shall  come  of  course,"  and  so  on.  There  are 
others  that  may  be  regarded  as  parts  of  the 
verb,  forming  compounds  analogous  to  those 
so  freely  used  in  German,  as  "  That  is  some- 
thing I  should  never  think  of,"  "  That  is  more 
than  I  bargained  for,"  "  Such  conduct  is  hard 
to  conceive  of."     These  two  classes  of  expres- 


Grammar  49 

sion  give  no  trouble :  the  preposition  and  the 
noun  or  verb  are  so  constantly  seen  together 
that  no  other  preposition  ever  intrudes. 

There  are  verbs,  however,  that  keep  com- 
pany, or  have  kept  company,  with  more  than 
one  preposition,  and  which  give  occasion  some- 
times for  doubt  as  to  their  proper  mates. 
These  are  generally  verbs  of  Latin  origin, 
having  already  Latin  prepositions  of  their  own 
firmly  united  to  them,  and  which  hold  rather 
loosely  therefore  to  the  second  or  English 
companions  which  have  been  forced  upon  them. 

16.  The  tendency  of  the  English  language, 

as  of  other  languages,  in  respect  to  such  verbs 

as  these,  is  in  favor  of  that  preposi- 
Differ  from. 

tion  which  is  a  translation   of   the 

Latin  one.  Thus  we  say,  appeiid  to,  annex  to, 
detach  from,  exempt  from,  concur  with,  com- 
municate  with,  deliver  from,  and  so  on  through 
a  long  list.  Nevertheless,  differ  with  is  now 
sometimes  met  with,  and  though  not  conform- 
able with  the  genius  of  the  language,  seems 


50  Errors  of  Speech 

likely,  if  not  to  drive  out  the  other  expression, 
at  least  to  divide  its  domain.  The  only  cases, 
I  think,  in  which  differ  with  is  used  are  those 
in  which  a  difference  of  opinion  is  spoken  of. 
When  the  difference  is  in  character,  religion, 
appearance,  anything  but  opinion,  no  one,  I 
think,  would  use  anything  but  differ  from. 
Even  in  this  use,  the  form  differ  with  is  cer- 
tainly not  well  established ;  it  is  seldom  if  ever 
used  in  speaking  of  third  persons,  but  only 
when  the  speaker  says  "  I  differ  with  so-and- 
so  M  ;  and,  as  it  is  entirely  unnecessary,  it  seems 
to  me  it  should  be  avoided.  The  following  is 
correct : 

"  I  must  differ  from  you  there  altogether." 
Trollope,  Dr.  Thome,  Ch.  xliv. 

"  Sir  :  A  few  years  ago  I  felt  the  necessity  of 
differing  from  you  on  the  subject  of  foot-ball." 
Letter  in  The  Nation,  Dec.  23,  1897. 

"  Perhaps  in  minor  particulars  I  might  differ 
from  him."  Report  of  the  Electrical  Conference  at 
Philadelphia,  1884,  p.  162. 

17.  Connect  to  is  much  used  now  by  some 


Grammar  51 

writers  on  electricity,  instead  of  connect  with. 
Connect  ^  has  no  advantage  over  the  latter, 
with.  ancj    kas   no   SUpp0rt   among   good 

writers.  There  is  no  need  for  it,  even  as  a 
technical  term,  and  there  is  the  strongest  rea- 
son therefore  why  it  should  be  avoided. 

"  This  time  includes  placing  the  cartridge  in  the 
hole,  connecting  to  the  pump  and     .     .     ." 

"  Must  each  have  the  frame  permanently  con- 
nected to  ground." 

"  If  the  sphere  be  an  infinitely  thin  conductor 
and  be  connected  to  the  ground     .     .     ." 

The  same  writer,  however,  says,  correctly : 

"  The  vessel  is  connected  with  an  electrometer." 
"  The  quadrants  connected  with  b  become  posi- 
tively charged,  and  the  quadrants  connected  with 
a  become  negatively  charged." 

1 8.   Compare  to  is  no  better  than  connect  to  : 

with  is  the  proper  preposition  in  both  cases. 

Observe  the  effect  of  the  substitu- 
Compare  to. 

tion  in  the  following  examples : 

"  Yet  two  of  these  were  good  cross-examiners 

compared  to  the  chairman." 


52  Errors  of  Speech 

"  They  still  knew  that  the  interest  they  took  in 
their  business  was  a  trifling  affair  compared  to  their 
spontaneous,  long-suffering  affection  for  nautical 
sport." 

19.  An  adjective  requires  the  same  preposi- 
tion as  the  verb  to  which  it  is  etymologically 

related.     Different  to  is  therefore  as 
Preposition 

with  adjec-  wrong  as  differ  with,  and  the  follow- 
ing examples  must  be  condemned: 

" .  .  .  and  Russian  officers  must  be  very  dif- 
ferent to  English  ones." 

"  It  is  quite  a  different  affair  to  that  of  Moffat's." 

The  correct  usage  is  shown  in  Section  16. 

The  following  are  examples  of  the  misuse  of 
other  prepositions.  The  errors  will  be  readily 
detected : 

"  In  walked  Sir  Hercules  Robinson,  dressed  in  a 
court  uniform  much  ornamented  by  gold  embroid- 
ery." 

"...  the  emperors  of  Austria  and  Russia 
sympathized  in  the  autocratic  tendencies  of  Abdul 
Hamid." 

"  Every  particle  of  matter  of  which  we  have  any 
knowledge  attracts  every  other  particle  in  con- 
formity to  the  law  of  gravitation." 


Grammar  53 

v  20.  Some  mistakes  in  the  use  of  auxiliaries 
are  rather  common.  First  among  these  is  the 
Auxilia-  use  °f  can  instead  of  mayt  a  mistake 
nes:  Can.  common  jn  childhood,  and  not  alto- 
gether unknown  in  maturer  years.  "  You 
can  now  go  and  take  some  exercise,"  "  Can 
we  have  a  week  longer  for  our  composition  ?  M 
These,  if  rare,  are  not  unheard  of,  and  young 
writers  should  be  on  their  guard  against  them. 
Can  implies  ability :  may  asks  or  gives  permis- 
sion. 

Though  this  error  belongs,  as  said,  mostly 
to  childhood's  years,  we  find  it  occasionally  in 
the  work  of  the  elders.     Thus: 

"  Can  I  come  in,  Frank  ? "  Trollope,  Dr. 
Thome,  Ch.  xliv. 

But  here  it  is  put  into  the  mouth  of  a  young 
speaker,  and  perhaps  it  should  be  said  that  this 
error  does  not  rise  much  higher  than  the  school- 
room. So  high,  however,  it  does  rise,  and 
somewhat  too  often. 


54  Errors  of  Speech 

21.  Another  error  in  the  use  of  auxiliaries 

consists  in  leaving  the  auxiliary  or 
Auxiliary 

without  a     helping   word  without  anything   to 
verb-  help. 

"  '  I  've  sometimes  thought  she  'd  turn  me  out  of 
the  house.' 

" '  I  wish  with  all  my  heart  she  had.'  " 

Hodgson,  in  his  Errors  in  the  Use  of  English, 
a  large  collection  from  English  writers,  has  had 
better  luck  (or  worse  ?)  in  meeting  with  this 
blunder  than  I  have  had  among  American  and 
English  writers  together.  I  am  inclined  to 
think  it  commoner  in  England  than  in  Amer- 
ica, and  commoner  fifty  years  ago  than  now. 
I  cite  a  few  of  Hodgson's  examples,  with  some 
of  my  own  collecting: 

"  Shelley,  like  Byron,  early  knew  what  it  was  to 
love  ;  almost  all  the  great  poets  have." 

Have  known,  the   writer   meant   to   say,    but 
there  is  no  known  in  his  sentence. 

"  We  are  all  apt  to  imagine  that  what  is,  always 
has,  and  always  will  be." 


Grammar  55 

Always  has  been  is  intended. 

"  I  am  anxious  for  the  time  when  he  will  talk  as 
much  nonsense  to  me  as  I  have  to  him." 

"  Some  part  of  this  exemption  may,  and  no  doubt 
is,  due  to  mental  and  physical  causes." 

The  analogy  between  this  error  and  that 
which  consists  in  leaving  a  pronoun  without  an 
antecedent  is  obvious,  and  the  training  that  is 
good  as  a  corrective  for  the  one  may  be  recom- 
mended for  the  other. 

22.  Shall  and  will.  By  far  the  most  trouble- 
some of  the  English  auxiliaries  are  shall  and 
Shall  and  wi'll:  indeed,  so  common  is  the  mis- 
•  use  of  these  two  words  that  many 

persons  question  the  wisdom  of  trying  to  main- 
tain the  distinction  between  them.  As  for  me, 
however,  I  feel  that  the  system  of  refined  dis- 
tinctions between  these  words  which  has  grown 
up  during  five  centuries  and  been  perfected 
during  the  last  two  is  a  choice  inheritance 
which  everyone  who  cares  for  the  beauties  of 
his  native  tongue  ought  to  be  willing  to  make 
considerable  effort  to  preserve. 


56  Errors  of  Speech 

That  will  originally  implied  desire  and  con- 
sequently determination,  while  shall  expressed 
duty  or  obligation,  is  the  key  to  the  many  nice 
shades  of  meaning  that  can  now  be  expressed 
by  the  proper  use  of  these  two  words.  To 
trace  out  and  explain  all  these  nice  distinctions 
would  be  an  undertaking  too  large  for  these 
pages :  only  two  or  three  of  the  plainest  cases 
can  be  touched  on. 

a.  Will  can  never  be  properly  used  in  the 
first  person,  unless  intention,  purpose,  or 
promise  is  implied.  If  nothing  more  is  meant 
than  that  a  given  event  is  going  to  happen,  shall 
must  be  used.  This,  the  most  simple  and 
positive  of  the  principles  governing  the  use  of 
shall  and  will,  is  violated  in  the  recitation- 
room,  daily,  in  the  most  flagrant  way.  Every 
hour  I  hear,  "If  we  divide  by  the  co-efficient 
of  x  we  will  find  .  .  .",  lt  Solving  this 
equation  we  will  find  two  values  .  .  .", 
"If  we  look  at  Venus  through  a  good  telescope 
we   will   see  it  crescent-shaped,"   and  so  on. 


Grammar  57 

Impossible  as  it  is  to  listen  to  these  things 
without  shuddering,  it  is  also  impossible  to 
pause  to  correct  them  all,  and  it  ought  not  to 
be  necessary:  however  difficult  some  of  the 
other  uses  of  these  words  may  be,  this  distinc- 
tion is  of  such  an  elementary  kind  as  should  be 
understood  and  correctly  applied  by  everybody 
who  pretends  to  be  a  student,  and  the  neglect 
of  it  should  be  an  unpardonable  offence. 

b.  So  positive  and  so  simple  is  the  principle 
just  stated  that  it  suffices  to  condemn  at  once 
and  without  appeal  the  use  of  will  or  would  in 
the  first  person  with  such  verbs  as  like,  prefer, 
wish,  fear,  hope,  and  others  expressing  involun- 
tary states  of  mind.  "  I  would  like  to  hear 
your  opinion,"  "  I  would  be  afraid  to  walk 
there  after  dark, "  "  I  will  expect  to  hear  from 
you  soon,"  "  I  would  prefer  to  manage  it  in 
my  own  way,"  and  all  expressions  like  these 
are  wrong.  The  state  of  feeling  indicated, 
that  of  preferring,  liking,  fearing,  is  one  that 
arises  spontaneously  in  the  speaker,  and  the 


58  Errors  of  Speech 

will  has  no  influence  over  it.  That  hundreds 
of  such  expressions  can  be  found  in  the 
writings,  and  thousands  in  the  speech,  of  men 
of  considerable  culture  does  not  justify  them: 
they  are  uniformly  excluded  from  the  writings 
of  all  who  pay  attention  to  correctness  of  style, 
from  Shakspere  to  George  Eliot.  Such  pas- 
sages as  the  following,  which  may  be  found  in 
any  desired  number  in  the  reports  of  the  trans- 
actions of  scientific  societies,  have  no  justifica- 
tion, and  no  one  who  hopes  to  learn  to  speak 
and  write  English  correctly  should  ever  allow 
himself  to  use  them : 

"  I  would  like  to  add  a  word  to  what  Mr.  Hen- 
derson has  said." 

"  I  would  like  to  say  just  one  word." 
"  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  the  privilege  of 
seconding  that  motion." 

c.  Should  and  would,  when  used  affirmatively 
and  in  direct  discourse  (not  in  such  expressions 
as  "  he  said  he  should,"  "  they  thought  they 
should  "),  follow  the  analogy  of  shall  and  will. 


Grammar  59 

If  these  three  principles  be  firmly  grasped, 
most  of  the  simpler  uses  of  these  words  will 
present  no  difficulty. 

Out  of  the  original  distinction  between  shall 
and  will,  the  former  expressing  obligation  and 
the    latter    determination,    have   arisen   many 
subtle  shades  of  distinction.     It  is  in  the  expres- 
sion of  these  refinements  of  meaning, — in  inter- 
rogative  forms,   in  indirect  discourse,  and  in 
cases  in  which  the  words  are  used  rather  as  inde- 
pendent verbs  than  as  auxiliaries,  that  most  of 
the  real  difficulties  arise  and  that  most  of  the 
supposed  lapses  of  good  writers  occur.     When 
better  understood,  however,  these   lapses  are 
often  found  to  be  no  lapses  at  all,  but  strictly  in 
conformity  with  the  correct  use  of  the  words. 
These  refinements,  interesting  as  the  study  of 
them  is,  it  would  be  improper  to  try  to  present 
here.      My   present   purpose   will   be   accom- 
plished if  I  can  induce  my  readers  to  give  to 
the  simpler  cases  so  much  attention  as  will  en- 
able them  to  avoid  the  most  conspicuous  errors. 


60  Errors  of  Speech 

The  following  are  examples,  from  daily 
papers,  campaign  speeches,  and  current  liter- 
ature, of  the  prevailing  misuse  of  these  words : 

"  Well,  if  the  Legislature  will  agree  to  the  amend- 
ments which  I  have  suggested  I  will  be  glad  to 
accept  the  charter." 

"  A  few  days  ago,  when  he  was  asked  why  he  did 
not  openly  fight  Mr.  Croker  on  questions  of  policy, 
he  is  reported  to  have  replied  that  Mr.  Croker  had 
put  him  in  the  leadership  and  he  would  be  an  in- 
grate  to  turn  against  him." 

"  Ex-Secretary  Whitney  was  asked  if  all  the  wit- 
nesses had  been  examined,  and  he  said  :  '  No.  We 
have  not  finished  taking  testimony,  and  I  fear  we 
will  not  to-day.' " 

"  If  free  coinage  means  a  ioo-cent  dollar,  equal 
to  a  gold  dollar,  ...  we  will  not  then  have 
cheap  dollars,  but  dollars  just  like  those  we  now 
have." 

"  We  will  be  required  to  coin  only  that  which  is 
not  needed  elsewhere." 

"  We  would  look  in  vain  through  the  speech  de- 
livered here  one  week  ago  to  find  a  true  statement 
of  the  issue     .     .     ." 

"  If  everything  in  the  world  be  increased  ten  per 
cent,  in  value,  why,  we  would  pay  ten  per  cent. 
in  addition  for  what  we  would  buy,  and  get  ten 
per  cent,  more   for  what  we  would   sell,  and  we 


Grammar  61 

would  be  in  exactly  the  same  place  we  occupied 
before." 

"  The  election  of  1892  was  a  great  misfortune. 
It  may  be  we  would  have  had  a  collapse  then,  no 
one  can  be  quite  sure.  But  if  we  had  we  should 
never  have  gone  so  far  or  suffered  so  much." 

Why  the  speaker  should  have  repented  him  of 
would  and  returned  to  should,  from  which  he 
ought  not  to  have  strayed,  is  not  easy  to 
understand,  unless,  following  the  example  of 
some  others,  he  is  only  trying  to  treat  the  rival 
auxiliaries  impartially. 

"  Free  silver  would  put  more  gold  out  of  circu- 
lation than  the  mints  of  the  United  States  could 
possibly  bring  in  in  years  of  silver,  and  instead  of 
having  more  money  we  would  have  less.  With 
our  six  hundred  and  odd  millions  of  gold  driven 
out  of  circulation,  we  will  reduce  the  per  capita 
money  of  this  country  between  eight  and  nine 
dollars." 

The  speaker  here  uses  both  would  and  will 
wrongly ;  but  he  shows  his  willingness  to  be 
right  sometimes,  by  saying,  in  another  place : 

"  If  Mr.  Bryan    .     .     .    were  in  the  Presidential 


62  Errors  of  Speech 

chair,  without  any  legislation  by  Congress  we  should 
be  on  a  silver  basis  in  a  week's  time." 

23.  After  these  shocking  utterances  it  will 
be  a  pleasure  to  note  how  the  masters  use 
these  words : 

"  '  We  shall, 

As  I  conceive  the  journey,  be  at  the  Mount 

Before  you,  Lepidus.'  " 

Shakspere,  Ant.  and  Cleop.y  ii.,  5. 

"  They  know  that  we  be  hungry  ;  therefore  are 
they  gone  out  of  the  camp  to  hide  themselves  in 
the  field,  saying,  when  they  come  out  of  the  city, 
we  shall  catch  them  alive,  and  get  into  the  city." 
2  Kings  vii.,  12. 

11  You  need  not  offer  me  any  inducements  :  I 
shall  be  delighted  to  come  if  I  can."  William 
Black,  B  rise  is. 

"  All  Valentines  are  not  foolish,  and  I  shall  not 
easily  forget  thine,  my  kind  friend."  Charles 
Lamb,  "  Valentine's  Day." 

"  As  soon  as  I  get  settled  I  will  write  and  let 
you  know,  and  I  shall  expect  you  immediately." 
Dickens,  Pickwick  Papers. 

"  I  was  a  coward  on  instinct.  I  shall  think  the 
better  of  myself  and  thee  during  my  life."  Shak- 
spere, Henry  IV. ,  I.,  ii.,  4. 

"  I  should  only  like  to  see  what  they  'd  say  to 
you  if  you  were  in  a  sponging-house  !  Yes,  I  should 


Grammar  63 

enjoy  that,  just  to  show  that  I  'm  always  right." 
Jerrold,  Curtain  Lectures,  No.  15. 

"  I  know  what  men's  two  small  glasses  are.  In  a 
little  while  you  '11  have  your  face  all  over  as  if  it 
were  made  of  red  currant  jam.  And  I  should  like 
to  know  who  is  to  endure  you  then  ? "     lb.,  No.  3. 

"What  do  you  say?  I  made  her  blush  at  my 
manners  ?  I  should  like  to  have  seen  her  blush." 
Ib.y  No.  18. 

" .  .  .  for  which  reason  he  shook  him  by  the 
hand,  telling  him  he  should  be  glad  to  see  him  at 
his  lodgings."     Addison,  Spectator. 

'  Well,  it  may  be  all  very  fine  and  philosophical, 
but  should  n't  I  just  like  to  read  you  the  end  of  the 
second  volume  of  Modem  Painters."  Ruskin, 
The  Ethics  of  the  Dust,  Lecture  vii. 

Well,  Uncle,'  said  Tom,  '  that  is  what  I  should 
like  to  do.'  "  George  Eliot,  The  Mill  on  the 
Floss,  Ch.  v. 

"  I  wish  I  could  have  those  minutes  over  again. 
I  wonder  if  I  should  really  do  what  I  think  I  should. 
I  should  like  to  drive  back  and  try  it."  Burnand, 
Happy  Thoughts,  Ch.  xvii. 

"  I  presented  her  with  a  book  which  I  happened 
to  have  with  me,  and  I  should  not  be  pleased  to 
think  that  she  forgot  me."  Johnson,  A  journey 
to  the  Western  Islands. 

" '  I  should  like  a  turn  with  you,  but  it  is  a  little 
too  late,'  said  he."     Hope,  The  Prisoner  of  Zenda. 

"  In  America  I  should  as  soon  think  of  drinking 


64  Errors  of  Speech 

pure  alcohol  directly  after  breakfast  as  a  glass  of 
porter."  Richard  Grant  White,  England  with- 
in and  without. 

"  '  You  would  n't  like  to  sit  to  me  for  your  por- 
trait, should  you  ? '  said  Piero."  George  Eliot, 
Romola,  Ch.  xxv. 

"  In  regard  to  the  waistcoat,  I  would  n't  have  a 
man's  waistcoat,  much  less  a  gentleman's  waistcoat 
on  my  mind  for  no  consideration  ;  but  the  silk 
handkerchief  's  another  thing  ;  and  if  you  was  sat- 
isfied when  we  get  to  Hounslow,  I  should  n't  object 
to  that  as  a  gift."  Dickens,  Martin  Chuzzlewit, 
Vol.  II.,  Ch.  xiii. 

Dickens's  lowest  characters,  if  they  are  Eng- 
lish, though  they  may  be  unable  to  manage 
other  parts  of  their  grammar,  are  always  right 
in  the  use  of  shall  and  will. 

"  What !  Upon  compulsion  ?  No  ;  were  I  at  the 
strappado,  or  all  the  racks  in  the  world,  I  would 
not  tell  you  on  compulsion."  Shakspere,  Henry 
IV.,  I.,  ii.,  4. 

"  '  I  suppose  I  am  dull  about  many  things,'  said 
Dorothea,  simply.  '  I  should  like  to  make  life 
beautiful — I  mean  everybody's  life.'  "  George 
Eliot,  Middlemarch,  Ch.  xxii. 

"  '  I  hate  grammar  !    What 's  the  use  of  it  ? ' 
"  '  To  teach  you  to  speak  and  write  correctly  .  .  . 
Should  you  like  to  speak  as  old  Job  does  ? '  "    Ib.y 
xxiv. 


Grammar  65 

" '  I  should  not  be  surprised  at  anything  in  Bul- 
strode,  but  I  should  be  sorry  to  think  it  of  Lyd- 
gate.'  "     Middlemarch,  Ch.  xxvi. 

"  '  I  should  like  to  know  when  you  left  off,'  said 
Rosamund."     lb.,  xxvii. 

"  I  want  to  recall  you  to  the  subject  of  lotteries. 
I  should  like  to  hear  anybody  maintain  that  they 
are  not  very  culpable  transactions."  Helps,  Real- 
tnahy  Ch.  vi. 

24.  Since  Shakspere's   day   the  use  of  the 

possessive  form  where  no  possession  is  to  be 

expressed  has  been  greatly  extended. 
Possessive. 

For  a  long  while  "  its      was  stoutly 

resisted  as  a  needless  innovation  ;  now,  not  only 

is  this  word  thoroughly  established,  but  our 

ready-writers   put  almost    any  word  into  the 

possessive  form,  without  regard  to  possession 

or  to  euphony  either,  and  the  preposition  "  of  " 

seems   to   be   falling    into    disuse.      We   read 

now — "  Negotiations  are  pending  between  the 

powers'  representatives  and  the  Porte,"  "  The 

Charter  Commission's  end,"  "  The  test  of  the 

suggestion's  efficiency  might  be  made  there," 

"  Sorosis'  president,"  "  The  State  of  Georgia's 


66  Errors  of  Speech 

loss,"  "  The  Administration's  view  of  the 
commission's  make-up,"  and  much  more  of 
the  same  kind. 

How  unnecessary  these  harsh  utterances  are, 
becomes  plain  when  we  note  how  easy  it  is  to 
avoid  them. 

Negotiations  are  pending  between  the 
Porte  and  the  representatives  of  the  powers," 
"  The  end  of  the  Charter  Commission,"  "  The 
efficiency  (value)  of  the  suggestion,"  "  The 
loss  of  the  State  of  Georgia. "  Surely  all  these 
express  the  thought  intended,  and  all  more 
euphoniously  than  the  expressions  cited. 

The  following  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to 
correct : 

"  Rapid  transit  by  the  Elm  Street  underground 
railroad  is,  we  believe,  assured  by  yesterday's  con- 
firmation by  the  Appellate  Division  of  the  Supreme 
Court  commission's  report  in  approval  of  the  Rapid 
Transit  Commission's  plans.  Despite  the  rejoicings 
of  the  Manhattan  Elevated  Railway  Company's 
officials,  we  believe  that  the  remarkable  qualifica- 
tions of  the  Division's  judgment  present  no  obstacle 
to  the  project  which  time,  patience,  and  the  extraor- 


Grammar  67 

dinary  powers  of  the  Rapid  Transit  Commission 
may  not  surmount. 

"  Yet  we  believe  that  the  Appellate  Division's 
additions  to  the  law's  restrictions  will  not  be  found 
of  paralyzing  effect." 

25.  It  will  perhaps  be  thought  by  some 
that  such  faults  as  I  have  illustrated  are  too 
trifling  to  deserve  attention.  It  is,  of  course, 
true  that  they  can  be  avoided  only  by  waiting 
and  picking  and  choosing,  and  it  is  true  that, 
sometimes,  there  is  not  time  for  such  care. 
This  is  the  apology  for  the  writers  of  the  news- 
paper press  and  all  who  are  compelled  to  write 
in  haste;  and,  though  not  a  justification,  it  is 
sometimes  a  fair  excuse.  It  is  indeed  an  occa- 
sion for  wonder,  when  one  thinks  how  a  daily 
paper  is  prepared,  that  it  is  so  well  written  as 
it  generally  is.  But  after  all,  haste  does  not 
excuse  everything,  and  proper  training,  the 
acquired  habit  of  looking  out  constantly  for 
false  references  and  false  agreements,  for  well- 
known  improprieties,  for  vulgarisms  and  use- 
less innovations,  the  habit  of  holding  in  the 


68  Errors  of  Speech 

youthful  pen  (and  the  elderly  pen  too  for  that 
matter)  rather  than  give  it  free  course,  will  en- 
able the  writer  to  avoid  easily  many  an  awk- 
ward turn  which  he  at  first  deems  inevitable  or 
at  least  excusable.  It  is  to  assist  in  the  for- 
mation of  this  habit  that  this  little  work  is 
intended. 

At  the  suggestion  of  my  publishers,  I  append 
the  following  Index,  which  contains,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  expressions  criticised  in  the  preced- 
ing chapters,  others  that  in  my  opinion  should 
also  be  condemned.  I  strongly  recommend  to 
every  writer,  and  particularly  to  every  young 
writer,  to  keep  such  an  Index  on  hand,  and  to 
interest  himself  in  making  to  it  needful  addi- 
tions. 


INDEX    EXPURGATORIUS. 

Above,  for  more  than. 

Antagonize,  for  oppose. 

Any,  for  at  all :  "  She  does  not  walk  any  if  she  can 

avoid  it."     "  I  don't  work  any  at  night." 
Apt,  for  liable  or  likely. 

Balance,  for  rest  or  remainder. 
Be  done  with,  for  have  done  with. 
Bogus,  for  worthless,  fraudulent. 
But,  for  only  :  "  others  but  nodded." 

Cablegram,  for  cable  despatch  or  message. 
Calculated  to,  for  likely  to  or  lit  to. 
Carnival,  as  metaphor. 
Claim,  for  assert  or  maintain. 
Cyclone,  for  tornado  or  hurricane. 

Deputize,  for  depute. 

Develops,  for  turns  out :  "  It  develops  that  Senator 

Hoar  introduced  the  proposed  amendment." 
Due  to,  for  owing  to. 

Electrocute,  for  kill  by  electricity. 
Endorse,  for  approve. 
En  route,  for  on  the  way. 

Enthuse  over,  for  feel  enthusiastic  over,  or  admire. 

69 


70  Errors  of  Speech 

Every  now  and  then,  for  now  and  then. 
Every  once  in  a  while,  for  once  in  a  while. 
Expect,  for  think  or  suppose,  relating  to  present 
time. 

Fix,  for  adjust,  repair,  and  a  hundred  other  words. 
Folks,  for  folk  or  people  :  "  the  good  folks  at  the 

inn,"  for  "  the  good  people  at  the  inn." 
Fraud,  for  impostor. 

Goes  without  saying,  for  is  understood. 
Gratuitous,  for  unnecessary. 

Have  got,  for  have. 

Hire,  let,  lease.     (See  dictionaries.) 

Inaugurate,  for  begin  or  open. 
In  evidence,  for  conspicuous. 
In  our  midst,  for  in  the  midst  of  us,  or  among  us. 
Inside  of,  for  within  or  in  less  than  :  "  inside  of 
two  weeks." 

Jeopardize,  for  endanger. 

Know  as,  for  know  that :  "  I  do  not  know  as  I  can 
say  much  on  that  subject." 

Learn,  for  teach. 

Leave,  for  let. 

Lengthy,  for  long. 

Loan,  for  lend. 

Locate,  for  settle  or  place. 

Lurid,  for  bright  or  brilliant. 


Index  Expurgatorius  71 

Majority,  for  most :  "  The  majority  of  the  stock  is 

worthless." 
Materialize,  for  appear. 

Murderous,  for  deadly  :  "  murderous  weapons." 
Mutual,  for  common. 

Observe,  for  say  (it  means  to  heed  or  attend  to). 
Official,  for  officer. 

Patron,  for  customer. 
Posted,  for  informed. 
Proven,  for  proved. 

Quite,  for  very. 

Reliable,  for  trustworthy. 

Remains,  for  corpse. 

Rendition,  for  performance. 

Repudiate,  for  reject  or  disown. 

Restive,  for  restless  or  frisky. 

Resurrect,  for  bring  back  to  life. 

Retire,  for  go  to  bed. 

Retire,  for  withdraw  (active  verb). 

Role,  for  part. 

Ruination,  for  ruin  or  destruction. 

Since,  for  ago  :   "  It  happened  more  than  a  year 

since." 
Some,  for  somewhat  or  a  little  :  "  It  thawed  some." 
State,  for  say  :  "  He  stated  that  he  had  no  property 

of  his  own." 
Stop  at,  for  stay  at. 


J2  Errors  of  Speech 

Those  kind,  for  that  kind. 
Transference,  for  transfer. 
Transpire,  for  occur  or  take  place. 

Ventilate,  for  expose  or  explain. 

Will  be  able,  for  shall  be  able,  in  the  first  person. 
Would  like,  for  should  like,  in  the  first  person. 


INDEX 


Accusative  for  nominative,  23 

Addison,  44 

Apt,  6 

Arnold,  Matthew,  44 

Auxiliaries,  53 

Auxiliary  without  verb,  54 

Benjamin,  Park,  44 
Bible,  45 

Black,  William,  62 
Brewing,  14 
Burke,  Edmund,  45 
Burnand,  63 

Can,  may,  53 
Carlyle,  Thomas,  9 
Carnival,  17 
Case-hardened,  19 
Claim,  8 

Common  Prayer,  44 
Compare  with,  51 
Connect  with,  50 
Constitution   of    the    United 

States,  45 
Cyclone,  16 

Definite,  6 
Definitive,  6 
Dickens,  62,  64 


Dickson :  Mommsen's  Rome, 

43 
Differ  from,  49 
Divided  infinitive,  40 
Disagreement  in  number,  28 
Due,  4 

Electrical    Conference,    Re- 
port of,  50 
Eliot,  George,  63,  64,  65 
Evening  Post,  43 

Froude,  37 

Gladstone,  W.  E.,  8,  46 
Godkin,  vii 
Grammar,  22 

Handicap,  18 
Helps,  Sir  Arthur,  65 
Hodgson,  54 
Hope,  Anthony,  63 

Improprieties,  I 
Index  expurgatorius,  69 
Infinitive,  divided,  40 

Jerrold,  Douglas  W.,  46,  63 
Johnson,  Samuel,  63 


73 


74 


Index 


Kirkwood,  Daniel,  45 

Lamb,  Charles,  62 
Liable,  1 

Macaulay,  Thomas  B.,  3S,  43 
Metaphors,  13 
McKinley,  William,  44 
Mivart,  St.  George,  5 

Nation,  The,  50 

Number,  disagreement  in,  28 

Orgy,  19 
Owing,  4 

Participial  noun  without  gov- 
ernment, 45 

Participle  as  adjective,  47 

Participle,  wrong  reference, 
29 

Passive  voice,  31 

Passive,  with  verbs  of  giving, 

33 
Phenomenal,  10 
Pluperfect  for  past  future,  37 
Possessive,  65 


Preposition  with  adjective,  52 
Preposition  with  verb,  48 
Preterit  for  perfect,  38 
Preterit  for  pluperfect,  39 
Pronoun  without  antecedent, 

25 
Pronoun,  with  wrong  antece- 
dent, 26 

Ruskin,  John,  44,  63 

Shakspere,  62,  64 
Shall  and  will,  55 
Should  and  would,  58 
Spencer,  Herbert,  3,  11 
Strong,  W.  L.,  44 

Thorn,  19 
Tidal  wave,  14 
Trollope,  Anthony,  50,  53 

Wallace,  Alfred  R.,  44 
Weather  Bureau,  The,  5 
Webster,  Daniel,  9 
Whateley,  46 

White,    Richard    Grant,    37, 
64 


LANGUAGE 


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—  TOLDOAN  DEPT. 

,  the  ^  date  stamped  MOV.O. 

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